IAB Report - Mercedes India to launch GL63 AMG on April 15

Indian Autos Blog reported earlier this year that Mercedes India's next AMG launch would be that of an SUV. While we speculated it could be the ML63 AMG or the GL63 AMG, the German carmaker has decided to launch the latter.

The GL63 AMG will launch in India on April 15. Like all AMG products, the GL63 will be sold as a CBU (Completely Built-up Unit), even though Mercedes locally assembles the regular GL Class at its Pune facility.

Power for the GL63 AMG comes from a 5,461 cc V8 engine producing 557 hp between 5,250-5,750 rpm and 760 Nm of torque between 2,000-5,000 rpm. An AMG SPEEDSHIFT PLUS 7G-TRONIC transmission is used to send power to all four wheels via Merc's 4MATIC system.

The result is that the GL63 takes 4.9 seconds to accelerate from 0-100 km/h, while the top-speed is limited to 250 km/h. In the EU tests, the GL63 claims an average fuel consumption of 8.13 km/l and emits 288 g/km of CO2. With the GL63, Mercedes India's SUV AMG portfolio will consist of two models, the other being the G63 AMG.

In India, there is no direct competition as such for the GL63 from the Q7 and the X5. As a result, we have to compare it to the 2014 Range Rover Sport 5.0-liter V8 petrol and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. The GL63 will be priced upwards of INR 1 crore.